


The time I shouldn't have been staring.

by LemonSqueezy (Citrus_Delights)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bruises, Football | Soccer, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, real talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-06-18 09:39:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15482922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Citrus_Delights/pseuds/LemonSqueezy
Summary: Shiro and Lance are on the same soccer team.Shiro is a good captain and wants to make sure Lance is well taken care of, especially when he notices strange things while accidentally looking at Lance in the showers. Which he of course has never done before. Nor would ever do again. But from this point on everything goes "downhill"





	1. Chapter 1

Practice had been over for half an hour but Shiro had to stay back to talk to Coach about some issues they've had and how to solve them. He'd have an extra practice with the newbies to get them going and get rid of some beginner mistakes and they'd managed to find a time where they could use the field. Most of the team was already saying goodbye outside of the lockers and Shiro greeted them in passing, still lost in thought about what to do next practice.

He'd really found his place here. Last year he wouldn't have thought being captain of the soccer team was something he'd enjoy doing that much but it was fun and demanding and he loved all his players. The extra work out was a plus.

When he entered the locker room and heard humming from the apparently still occupied showers he was reminded of another factor that might play into his positive view of his captain duties.

Anyway, time to get changed. He took his clothes off, grabbed his towel and shampoo and headed for the showers. It was messy, he really needed to give them another lecture about shower behavior. Leaving shampoo and soap everywhere would one day result in a fatal accident or something. Not that he’d ever slipped...

Talking about fatal. Lance was still not done! Face towards the wall he was massaging a sweet smelling concoction into his scalp, humming some melody that Shiro did not know but most certainly enjoyed. He reached out to put his shampoo on the shelf, missed, probably because of … staring and it came clattering to the floor.

Apart from Shiro’s heart skipping a beat, Lance yelped and turned around. Only to spot Shiro bent down, reaching for his shampoo. He blushed and turned back to face the wall.

“Wow, you startled me!” Lance finally pressed out.

“Sorry,” Shiro laughed, “was lost in thought, why are you even still here?” He tried to sound casual, while trying to find the right temperature to shower.

“Well, first of all beauty takes its time,” Lance laughed as well, making Shiro’s heart feel warm. “Secondly, I was kind of thinking about something else as well I guess…”

Shiro just nodded and they showered in silence. They were both done around the same time and when Lance entered the changing room right in front of him he couldn't help but get a glimpse of his ass… he really tried...not to, but he was weak lately and his striker's “attributes” were way too enticing not to be appreciated. At least in an “accidental” fashion.

That's also when he noticed the bruises. Even with the tanned skin the blooming marks on Lance's thighs was evident. Small round marks all over his thighs like from fingers that had grabbed just a bit too hard. Shiro gulped.

He pulled on his boxers, thinking about nothing else but those bruises. They all had lots of bruises. Normally it was a thing they were bragging about, but those were around the shin or maybe other parts that had bumped into other players or from falling on the ground. 

Lance's looked entirely different though. Shiro wanted to ask but he felt he couldn't. What if… they were from his partner? Lance was a handsome guy, he probably had lots of admirers and those would fit some… bedroom action perfectly. But it still irked him. 

He was blushing at this point. Trying to lecture himself on not getting involved in other people’s private business. People were into all kinds of different stuff...

Also he did not know Lance THAT well. And he probably wouldn't know about special interests especially. 

Then again. He had a bad feeling about this. Those bruises seemed awful. Who knows, maybe Lance was in a bad relationship. That's why he wasn't telling anyone about it… he'd been awfully quiet today. And he was still here. Maybe he didn't want to go home. 

Shiros brain was running hot. That's why he also didn't notice that he was still standing around in boxers, T-shirt half-pulled over his Torso, Trousers in hands.

He flinched when a hand on his shoulder pulled him back to reality.

“Shiro, is everything ok? I -” Lance pulled his hand back, startled by Shiro’s reaction.

When Shiro turned to face Lance he also noticed his weird state of dress and quickly pulled his shirt down.

“Uh, I'm - I'm good? I was thinking.” He looked at Lance and couldn't help glance down but Lance's shorts covered the point of interest. And then he made a decision. Not necessarily a well-thought out one... but Shiro was not good at thinking when his brain was stuck on a cute boy standing right in front of him. That’s why he preferred running from his problems on the field.

“Do you have time to talk?” Noticing a change in Lance's face and his own predicament of having to talk about … Lance's possible bad relationship, he tried to backpedal: “Only if you have time of course. I mean, it's not that...important”

Lance’s response was slightly delayed and he took half a step back. “Sure, I'm … going to wait outside?”

“Yeah, that's fine. I'll be quick” Shiro answered hurriedly, already thinking of ways to end it all, now fully realizing his predicament. He even considered finally confessing. Just so he didn't have to talk about the fact that he just saw bruises, while staring at his teammates ass. Adding insult to injury he was also implying that there was a possible abusive boyfriend or girlfriend just because he could probably not handle the fact that this beautiful man had found love.

After finally putting on his pants he tried to hype himself up to the fact that he was just a concerned captain and that he definitely only wanted to make sure that his treasured teammate was treated well. That was definitely how he would somehow make it seem. Had to.

Lance sat on a bench outside watching the birds gobbling up some leftovers of a sandwich. He didn’t get up when Shiro stepped outside, just smiled and waved. 

There was still time to turn back, Shiro told himself. He could just go straight to his bike and go home. And never come back. The team would just need a new captain. Easy.

But he found himself unable to turn away. Walking towards the bench Lance was sitting on and slowly sitting down beside him. 

He’d apparently been quiet for too long, because Lance piped up after some time, sounding awfully unsure: “Uhm… so what did you want to talk about?”

Shiro swallowed hard. What DID he want to talk about. ‘Hey, I noticed that you are bruised… are you ok?’ ‘Jo, I was worried you might have someone grab your ass too tight, need help?’ ‘Yahoo, I was staring at your ass and noticed that apart from your skin looking especially shiny today you also have some uppsi-woopsies and I want to kiss them better… ‘ WTF Shiro?!

“I- U - You - Are you ok?” He finally stuttered. Not looking at Lance at this point.

Then he finally turned to him, before Lance could even answer: “You just seemed, quiet today… and I … ARE YOU OK?” He had to physically restrain himself from slapping his arm over his mouth. The words would just not come out as planned.

Lance looked shocked more than anything before his usual smile found its way back onto his lips, very slowly he answered: “Yes I am, cute of you to pay attention. But are You ok?” He almost looked worried at this point which made Shiro’s heart melt in return.

Ok, here goes nothing: “To be honest, I noticed some… bruises when we came out of the shower, and as a captain, and your friend I was just wondering, if you were ok….I know it’s your own business but I don’t want to be one of those people who never says anything, and then it ends up being like, oh no, no one ever said anything but actually it was clear all the time. But of course I am aware that it could just be normal bruises but I’m just trying to say that….” 

Shiro kept on rambling, while Lance seemed to turn more red for every word falling out of Shiro’s mouth. Then suddenly he burst into the seemingly never-ending stream of words.

“Shiro!” 

Shiro looked up immediately, from his hands almost white now from pressing them together in agitation. This was the end. 

They stared at each other for a while. Both now bright red. When Lance did not talk again Shiro became more and more agitated. He opened his mouth twice as if to say something but just closed it again to think. 

Lance looked at Shiro’s knitted brows and serious face and couldn’t bring himself to hold his stare so he looked away: „Shiro,… I really don’t want to talk about it…” He only came short of saying ‘it’s none of your business’ though that was more because he’d almost swallowed his tongue.

Lance’s embarrassment caught on to Shiro and he blushed even more. Lance almost never acted like this. Was this proof that something was wrong? He felt hot when he remembered why he hadn’t asked Lance about it yet. The possibility of a relationship.

“Are you… seeing someone?...”

“What?!” Lance almost screeched.

Shiro paused for a bit before looking back at Lance, considering: ”I was, - was just wondering if you were happy… with… I don’t know I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have but, … I just felt …” Shiro resumed is rambling.

Lance had been short of actually shoveling his grave here and there had Shiro not looked so incredibly cute. When Shiro turned back to his hands, Lance suddenly saw more clearly. Wrangling hands, red face, darting eyes, everything spoke volumes of his distress. He was not trying to embarass Lance, though that was what he’d done. But he actually truly seemed to be embarrassed to even have started talking about it .

That’s when it dawned on him: Shiro must have been staring at him to even notice the small bruises all over his thighs. There was no way he hadn’t been.  
His anger had already mostly dissipated at this point but the adrenaline from the shock was still there. 

He took all his courage, his hands in fists, closed his eyes breathing in before:  
“Shiro,” he interrupted the other, again, whose gaze snapped up at him, but Lance wouldn’t be discouraged. Lance’s eyes were soft and a smile played around his lips: “I’m fine trust me, … please”, he added after a pause.

Shiro’s eyes mirrored Lance’s, the lines around them going soft: “You are?”

“I am. I promise. No one is hurting me…”, his eyes trailed downwards and he couldn’t bring himself to say more.

“I’m sorry, I…”, it dawned on Shiro that, now that he knew that nothing had happened, he’d definitely overstepped with his intruding questions.

“I did not want to … I was just… that’s not an excuse, I shouldn’t have I’m sorry… I really am… this is bad…” his face went darker shades of red the longer he talked and he just wanted to rewind, start over, wished he’d been able to ignore the beautifully bruised thighs of his handsome teammate, cursing his inability to keep his feelings in check.

Lance inched closer: “It’s fine…” but looking at Shiro’s face he realized it wouldn’t be enough. He’d never seen his captain this uncomfortable and he never wanted him to. Theoretically, him caring enough for Lance to question whether someone was hurting him, despite the fact that it was uncomfortable to ask such a thing was admirable and… now he would probably never do it again! 

What was he to do?

And just like Shiro had done before, Lance blurted out: “It was me!” 

Immediately after his hand went over his mouth. How the f* was this supposed to help?

Shiro stopped and looked up, face expressionless, eyes wide open, processing. He wasn’t talking but apparently his mouth had forgotten to finish mid-word and so it was still hanging open, he swallowed and visibly restarted his brain.

“You…?”

“Uh-…” Lance stalled, unable to back down, his fire suddenly extinguished, rose dusting his cheeks. When he noticed that some hint of blush remained on his captains face he unclenched his hands and stood a little bit straighter. There was still hope he had not misinterpreted before!

Controlling his voice he started over: “It was me, I got … carried away” he couldn’t help but smile at the awkwardness of the situation, still not sure how far he wanted to go in his confession.

Shiro on the other hand could not stop staring at Lance, trying to make sense of the new information. Why would Lance hurt himself, so, did that mean he was into… or was that a sport thing, but…

Under the constant scrutiny of Shiro’s gaze and his silence Lance’s mouth was faster than his brain again: “You know… it feels good…” his eyes wandered to Shiro’s exposed arms and big hands… could he?

“I like a strong grip?” his confidence had left him again at this point and his voice was barely a whisper. He regretted it immediately but at the same time it felt good to finally come some kind of clean.

Shiro’s eyes went even bigger and Lance could tell that his mind had gone there, he could see Shiro’s jaw working, clenching and unclenching, which did not help. Lance’s mind had gone there too. Back to last night, where he definitely had not imagined someone not similar to Shiro… and he felt hot, way too hot for the fact that his damp hair was cooling him down.

Shiro did not know what to say, his brain had short-circuited at the mental images of Lance imagining things, apparently, alone. Things that he could… no… he couldn’t go there but he already had. 

The moment seemed to stretch forever, he was looking at Lance, Lance was staring at him. They seemed to pull each other in.

Lance was considering for a moment to go even further, to lean int, to whisper into his ear, to tell him that one’s own grip was not enough. That …

Shiro could not decide whether he was strong enough to confess, to offer his “help”, to just go brain dead. All the while seeing Lance’s blushing face.

He finally blinked and broke the spell, stepping back, he missed the moment.

“Uh-, I think we should pack up. They are already locking up …” Shiro started. Lance moved back like he was slapped and Shiro winced inwardly. Did he ruin it again?

He took a shaky breath but couldn’t bring himself to face Lance so he turned to his stuff and added: “If you want, we could go get pizza and… talk more… I’m starving…”


	2. Home alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go for pizza and they are thirsty but it takes Lance some time to offer water.
> 
> Anyway they get to know each other and things seem to be going well apart from the fact that both of them are crushing - hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello - yes I'm still alive - I hope you enjoy this chapter - I think they are gonna be unstoppable soon - esp since the pizza is gone after this chapter (sorry for the spoiler)

To be honest Shiro had wanted to spend time with Lance for a while now. And this seemed as good an excuse as any. Though the circumstances were certainly more on the awkward side.

 

They ended up at Lance’s favorite pizza place. Which was situated just around the corner of his apartment apparently. Shiro chuckled when the guy working there greeted Lance by name and Lance blushed when he noticed.

 

“Come here often?” Shiro couldn’t help but grin at his weak attempt at joking.

 

“I don’t go here that often!” Lance complained. But Shiro just smiled. 

 

He looked around the store while Lance was talking to the guy he “barely knew”, apparently catching up on life. When he noticed that there were no tables or chairs, it was basically just the counter and behind that ovens and all the ingredients, together with a huge amount of cartons for the take-out. 

 

He carefully tapped Lance’s shoulder and waited till he turned around.    
  
“Hey,” he started awkwardly, “stupid question. But, where are we going to eat?” He looked around awkwardly hoping he’d overlooked some part of the restaurant.

 

Lance’s eyes, seemed to go big, and Shiro marvelled at how shiny they were once more, as realization hit the other. “Oh god, I forgot, I normally just take the pizza home…”, he trailed off. 

 

“Ah, don’t worry that’s fine too, I just thought we’d sit down somewhere, I didn’t think…” Shiro replied awkwardly, trying not to look at Lance, had he just invited himself into the other’s apartement? “How about we just… look for a bench somewhere we could, enjoy the sun for a bit …” Shiro looked outside at that and saw that the sun would be going down soon enough, but they’d still be able to eat, probably.

 

Lance had been lost in thought, most likely assessing the state his apartment was in, and seemed relieved at the suggestion since he was back to smiling now. “Sure, sounds good, let’s do that. The weather seems nice enough!”

 

It wasn’t. Just as they left the shop, it had gotten windier and clouds were blocking the sun, so it was now quite a bit colder as well. Shiro, pizza in one hand, pulled his jacket closer and frowned. His pizza would be cold in no time.

 

Lance tried to make the best of an awkward situation when he pointed to a bench a few steps ahead, it was tucked in a corner between stars and the hedges and looked comfortable enough.

 

“I don’t know if we should sit in front of some stranger’s house…” Shiro started but Lance stopped him, with a hand on Shiro’s chest.    
  
“Don’t worry big guy, that’s my house, it’s fine.” Then his hand was suddenly gone and Shiro was only able to make out the red tips of Lance’s ears, since he’d spun away so fast. “Big guy” echoed back in his ears, as he himself started blushing.

 

“Uh, look at this cozy spot, perfect for outdoor pizza, this is going to be an experience,” Lance basically screamed. His eyes wouldn’t leave his carton of pizza as he plopped down on the bench but then he slowly looked up again and patted the space beside him.

 

Shiro was about to join him as he spotted a person watching them from one of the windows of the apartment building. So this neighborhood also had curious grandmas, huh?

 

Then he sat down. Eating pizza on a bench would have been ideal if it had been sunny. Now, not so much. Shiro’s hair was still damp from his shower before and he guessed Lance’s was, too. Still, he was here with Lance and he wouldn’t show that he was cold if he could help it.

 

He finally opened his carton and was just about to indulge as Lance stopped him with a screech.

 

“Pineapple!”

 

Shiro looked up with a dumb-found look on his face.

 

“I should have paid more attention before!” Lance exclaimed again. “How did I not catch you ordering Pineapple pizza,” at this point he was almost wailing.

 

Shiro was watching Lance’s dramatic performance with interest as he simply stated: “It’s actually Pizza Hawaii.” As if that would make it any better. But Shiro bit back a grin and didn’t take his eyes off of Lance.

 

Lance’s eyes went wide as his face became exasperated: “It doesn’t matter, as long as there is one piece of pineapple on the pizza it’s pineapple pizza, and you are banned from …,” he gestured around himself trying to find the right word, “... my proximity!” He finally concluded.

 

In his wild gesturing he’d almost managed to push his own carton off of his knees and onto the ground which Shiro caught at the rim in the last moment.   
  
Shiro looked up from where he was bent over trying to save pizza from it’s certain death when he noticed two things. 

 

First and foremost: Lance was incredibly cute when he was being dramatic, and he was certain he could spot some freckles under his chin. But before he could get caught up in Lance’s appearance once again, there was the second thing:

 

That lady was still watching them and her face had gotten even more creepy. Shiro swallowed and sat back slowly.

 

Lance turned to see what Shiro was staring it as well and his shoulder slumped as he breathed out: “Not her again…,” he answered Shiro’s questioning gaze by continuing, “She’s watching everyone all the time! She even asked me once, why I was taking the trash out barefoot in summer. As if that concerned her in any way…”   
  
As Lance was rambling Shiro made sure Lance grabbed hold of his pizza again before letting go and continuing to eat his own.

 

“You think she was worried you were catching a cold?” He inquired.

 

“Most certainly, yeah” Lance said in a sarcastic tone of voice, “that’s also why she sounded like I’d just tossed three kittens in a river…,” he took a bite from his pizza as if to make a point. 

  
“Weird,” Shiro commented and took another big bite himself, he’d been more hungry than he thought, but then again, he usually was after training. Still, usually he wasn’t with Lance whose eyes now trailed after the string of cheese that just stuck at the corner of his mouth. Shiro quickly lifted his hand to get rid of it.

 

“I can’t even eat properly,” he laughed.   
  
That’s when Lance was back to his dramatic self as he pointed a finger at Shiro: “Now that is true! You cannot distract me from the fact that you have chosen this,” he gestured over Shiro’s pizza while his own was threatening to fall again, “when you could have any other - perfectly valid - pizza topping.”

 

Shiro was now grinning at Lance’s antics and added nonchalantly: “Well, you were there and didn’t stop me, so am I really to blame?” Shiro grinned, but trailed off as he noticed that the window behind them had just been opened a bit.   
  
Lance turned around as well and cursed under his breath, what made Shiro look at him instead.   
  
“I’m not going to stand for this…,” he mumbled, grabbed Shiro’s wrist and his own pizza and got up. Shiro was only able to grab his pizza _and_ bag by chance and stumbled after the other as he marched towards the house still cursing. Shiro couldn’t understand what he was saying but it didn’t sound legal….   
  
Once they were inside Lance let go and looked at Shiro like they were in some sort of action movie. Then he pointed at the door on the left, pulled his eyebrows together and put a finger to his lips before starting to climb the stairs.

 

Shiro got the hint, straightened up and followed Lance up the stairs. 

That’s when he realized how much fun Lance was. Shiro did already know that. Lance was the reason training was that much fun. His dramatic behavior and energy was the reason Shiro had fallen for him sooner rather than later. But the fact that any situation was just better with Lance in it? It was a new but not surprising development.

 

As they were climbing the stairs it took Shiro a moment to realize that his eyes were glued to Lance’s back. And they shot up as soon as he realized, inspecting the passing, exceedingly more boring walls instead.   
  
When they reached, what was supposedly Lance’s door, Lance turned around with a serious look on his face: “You’ll wait here until I give you a sign, if you enter this flat any earlier you will be kicked until you land in front of Mrs. Petersson’s doorstep and then you can try to handle her on your own.”    
  
Shiro nodded when Lance shoved his pizza on top of Shiro’s, and swallowed. The guy was able to change the atmosphere in seconds. And it send chills through Shiro’s body.

 

Obediently he waited when Lance vanished into his flat. But he couldn’t help but hear frantic moving, things being thrown and cupboards falling shut. 

 

He grinned, and thought of his own flat. Right now it was pretty decent, but the same could not be said for exam season, which was up. Shiro shivered again, but this time because of dread.

 

Then Lance was back and once again pulled at his wrist. “Good,” he commented. But before he actually stepped inside he stopped as if he’d forgotten something important: “But the pizza stays outside.”

 

The look on Shiro’s face must have said it all, because Lance couldn’t keep from laughing very long and finally pulled him inside.

 

“I’m joking, Shiro, common, even the best guys seem to have a flaw I guess…,” and again Shiro couldn’t find words as he felt warmth rise to his face and stared at the back of Lance’s head. 

 

Soon he found himself sitting on Lance’s couch, eating his half-cold pizza in silence because apparently now they were both awkward.

 

Suddenly Lance sprung up and Shiro just looked after him in wonder, when he soon returned with his Laptop, put it in front of them on a small coffee table and opened it. He breathed out noticeably, when an empty tab opened. Shiro couldn’t help but wonder if Lance had panicked for a brief moment at what his computer would display as soon as it was opened. 

 

Then he typed in something and soon there were cute animal videos to watch.

 

Lance pointed at the cat on the screen and smiled: “Do you know that one? It’s one of my favorites!” 

 

And with that Lance had once again managed to ease the mood and they were chatting away about animals that they’d seen, owned or petted. The pizza was eaten before Shiro was able to even overthink the situation just once, and they soon settled on the couch more comfortably, with the cartons on the floor. 

 

Lance had pulled his legs up between them, while Shiro settled on his side so he was facing Lance. They were still talking, but now Shiro was minutely in danger of getting lost in Lance’s aura. All of the sudden his mind went back to the reason why he was even here in the first place. 

 

And as his thoughts came to a screeching halt, so did his mouth and he ended up breaking off in the middle of his sentence about horses being the perfect size for hugging.

 

Lance looked at him questioningly. Shiro was still unable to catch onto a single thought unrelated to Lance’s thighs.

 

“Shiro?”

 

Then his hand sprung forward, landing on Shiro’s leg as he burst out: “I haven’t even offered you anything to drink.” His hand was still on Shiro’s thigh and that didn’t help his brain that was still trying to restart from the flashbacks from before.

 

“Is water ok?” Lance’s eyes were way too big, and he was too close. If Shiro would just lean forward now….   
  
“Yeah,” Shiro heard himself say and his mouth was dry enough that he felt like all the water Lance could offer would not be enough to quench his thirst right at that moment. He should have left a long time ago. Maybe like four years ago, before he could even meet Lance.

 

With that Lance left for the kitchen. Shiro missed the pressure on his leg right away but then he shook off the drowsy feeling and got up as well.

 

He joined Lance in the kitchen and leaned on on of the counters as he watched Lance pick out two glasses. He didn’t miss the way Lance peeked back at him, when he filled them with water from the sink. And Shiro was sure he had spotted the small smile on his face.

 

“So we ended up here anyways, huh…” Lance’s voice trailed off, but it didn’t sound like he was opposed to the idea. Shiro just wondered if he imagined the slight implication that came with it. 

 

“Yeah,” Shiro said and grabbed the full glass that Lance was offering him. “It’s not as bad as I thought,” he tried to lighten the mood.

 

Lance went with it and punched him in the arm: “Not as bad as you thought! You are lucky I let you in!!” 

 

Shiro was definitely feeling lucky when he held his arm and groaned as if Lance had just hurt not only his arm but his poor heart as well. Very lucky indeed.   
  
Then suddenly Lance’s hand was smoothing over his biceps, and Shiro was sure he’d just wanted to say something but now Lance seemed to be at a loss for words, hand still firm on his arm, where he’d punched him before.   
  
When he looked up and met Shiro’s gaze, he pulled back instantly and mumbled: “Just wanted to check if my monster punch really didn’t break anything…” 

 

Then he was suddenly gone and Shiro could hear him plopp down on the couch in the living room a few seconds later.   
  
Maybe Lance felt just as lost as himself. But even that didn’t help ease Shiro’s nerves. He was an idiot when it came… to things like this. Any crush he’d had before had thoroughly proven that. 

 

He breathed in deep before he took his glass and himself back to the living room, and to Lance. 


End file.
